Thank you all.
I know very little about wasps although am aware of their protective habits and have been near occupied nests before. Providing that you do nothing to intimidate, or startle them, they are generally ok. Still won't take too many chances.
I will leave it in place and will, hopefully get a few picks as the nest progresses. I may have to drill a hole in the shed wall to make sure they have access, as I don't know how she got in. It may have been when the door was open.
It's certainly a work of very intricate art.
I have never seen one during the construction phase before. Like most of us I have only seen them once they have been completed.
The nest is made from wood which the female chews into a pulp and moulds into shape.
It's wonderful how nature has endowed each individual female wasp with the knowledge to build, this most intricate and beautiful structure.
How could anyone destroy it?

Thanks to everyone who has sent such nice and encouraging comments.
I was there for quite a while Wagger. It was great seeing her cheewing around the edge of her nest, adding the pulp.
Thanks for your concern Jacque, to see this would be worth a few stings. It wouldn't be the first time. I once felt something tickling my arm and without thinking, rubbed it and received about six or seven stings as the wasp rolled over and over between my palm and my arm. Believe it or not, the wasp didn't seem to be hurt and flew off. I'm glad it wasn't hurt as it was not the wasp's fault.
I don't think David Attenborough or his team have anything to worry about Mageth. Their photography is truly amazing.

Thats fantastic, i once had a nest hanging from a shrub, like a ball of paper clever wasps, you can buy things now that look like wasp nests to stop them nesting in your garden, they won't nest where another wasp colony is. Clever eh?

One word for this blog...fantastic.Was spellbound to see all the intricate manouvres as the design developed.You have amazing patience Toto. You are wise to be cautious and agree that drilling exit and access holes would be advisable.Nothing worse than angry trapped wasps !
Looking forward to more pictures as the nest grows !

fantastic photos. wasps are much maligned. they eat lots of pests and do a lot of good. I too am alergic to wasps and have to carry an epipen but i dont deliberately lill them. Had a huge wasp in the greenhouse so had to walk out till she escaped. reminds me i have to go and close the window.

Thank you all.
Dead right Andrew. I don't blame you one bit. I had an american colleague when I was in Saudi who was bitten on his tongue by an ant. His tongue swelled to ridiculous proportions and I had to drive like a maniac to get him to hospital where a simple injection reversed the process and saved his life. As you would know, he was sufferring from anaphylactic shock.
Great to have you back online Bonkers. BT have a lot to answer for. As for the nest growing, I was looking at it today and again again this evening and no more work seems to have been done. The lovely female wasp is still there and this evening she had settled down for the night. I will keep an eye on her and report on any progress, including any injuries I may receive.
I have not yet drilled the holes for her as have had the door open for her all day and only closed it after I was sure she was settled for the night. I will open the door again early in the morning and drill the holes straight afterwards.

Good idea Toto....my thoughts on BT will have to remain my own !
Just back to the mealworms....we find live ones too expensive but a tip with the dried ones is we re hydrate them for about 10 mins in warm water,which makes them more attractive to the birds,as they are effectively then dead but soft ones ! Our robins and blue tits love them !
Hope this helps : )

Thanks Bonkers. I agree that the live ones are too expensive and after talking with Jean, my wife, we have agreed to do exactly what you have suggested. I was just a bit worried that without rehydrating them, the young birds would not get enough moisture in their diet. Will try to get some dried ones tomorrow.

Brilliant Toto....our local Wilkinsons sell them at half the price of garden centres.Only trouble is everyone else sussed that out and they had none left on Tuesday ! Will check up next week and stock up !

Toto.......What a brilliant set of photos.....I am in awe...That was a brilliant blog...Thankyou.............And thanks Bonkers for the tip about mealworms. Hate to say it but I used to work for BT until the "out sourced " our jobs to "New Delhi".......ho hum.............

Thanks Gardengnome. I consider myself very lucky to have seen this. She was still with her nest and eggs when I opened the door to let her out this morning. I think I woke her up as she seemed a little drowsy at first but soon started moving. I am off now to drill a couple of holes to allow her to come and go as she pleases.

just found your blog that is amazing do they build those little eggbox shapes too?
wow must show my hubby when he comes in although he may freak he kicked one when he was little thinking it was a football and was smothered in seconds was very poorly through it too!

Yes they build the whole thing Mookins.
I can appreciate you hubby's concern, but you can't really blame the wasps for their reaction if someones size 10 plates descend on their home. Just tell him to treat them nicely and he'll come to no harm.

I have to repeat the same "F-word" that everyone else has be using here - FANTASTIC!

When I lived in Spain I once watched while a wasp was building her nest on my balcony. Shame it never occurred to me to take any photos - but back then we had film cameras & developing costs were very expensive!

Now I go out onto my balcony here & snap 10 or 12 photos & upload them to my computer a few minutes later - if I don't like the result I just erase it! So now I have many 100s of photos of my balcony at all times of the year or day!

Only an average camera Frogprincess.
Thanks Harli.
I'm keeping an eye on her and her progress Peteg and if anything materialises I will post it.
Exactly like me Balcony. Digital photography has made it easy and relatively inexpensive to take as many pics as you like.

Wonderful blog, your captions brought me right along....lol. We have sooo many wasps here, I've had a nest almost every year. They are pretty safe, I've even had to clean them out of some luggage in a shed and they swarmed around but didn't get me, I think because I told them I was coming each day for a week. If this really gets established you'll have rows of guards watching your entrance and exit holes. :-) I once had them move into a hole under the garden that a mouse wintered in. Who knows how big that got, the hole became a gravel runway with sometimes ten guards around it. Really interesting. In and out all day, but left me to garden next to them fine. Keep us posted on the progress. :-)

I can understand that wasps are not everyones favourite insect Arlene and I have to admit that they can be a nuisance sometimes. I hope Harvey doesn't catch any as no-one wants to hear of him getting stung, especially in the mouth. On the other side of the coin is the fact that wasps a a predator of many of our garden pests.
As for the pyramids, I'm not sure what you are referring too as I thought that they were still in Egypt.

I see what you mean. Sorry to be so thick. I'm afraid that man has lost it now as if it isn't cheap it doesn't get done. When you think of what has been produced by man with limited tools and technological assistance it's a shame we can't produce quality things, made to last centuries any more.

Sadly I have to agree with you there.
I am pleased that at last the tide seems to be turning~ partly due to people being more careful what they spend their money on~and at last we might we spared the worlds resources being used on cheap tacky plastic goods containing god knows what contaminants flooding in from the far east!